The Lore Train: And I'm An Ishgardian Duke!

6 Feb 2015
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loretrain22

With Valentione’s Day in full swing, adventurers have taken to the lore forums to inquire about the standing of House Valentione within the social structure of Ishgard.

As the discussion yielded a possible model, a question arose based on an old levequest from our 1.0 archives that referred to a duke. A Realm Reborn tells us that the High Houses of Ishgard, whose sigils adorn the city-state’s very flag, are lorded over by counts. If a duke is higher than a count, where exactly does he fit into all of this?

Well, have no fear! Not one to let a possible contradiction go overlooked, Corvinoobus jumped in to enlighten us about some “long lost” information about the man once known as Duke Brett V.

Before this speculation continues further, I must share with you certain developments regarding the man once known as “Duke Brett V.”

The structure of Ishgardian nobility is not widely known, especially in lands so distant as Limsa Lominsa. Moreover, given the nature of Lominsan society, even well-to-do merchants may know little of such things. So it was that a lowborn Ishgardian, who through a series of events fortuitous and fantastic had built a profitable import and export concern, affected the trappings of nobility and convinced his peers in Limsa Lominsa that he was the esteemed “Duke Brett V.”

Why he felt the need to adopt such a guise is anyone’s guess, as his numerous eccentricities were met with widespread bemusement. Indeed, it was his penchant for ordering the same unusual dish every moon at the Bismarck that proved his undoing, as during one such visit he was confronted by traveling scholar, who declared with authority, “There’s no such thing as an Ishgardian duke!”

The “Duke” has since grown rather reclusive, as one might expect, and his tale is now largely forgotten. Yet on occasion, in certain corners of Limsa Lominsa, in response to a dubious claim, some locals are heard to exclaim, “Hah! And I’m an Ishgardian duke!”

So there you have it; continuity untarnished and new hints about the culture we’ll be diving into in Heavensward! Just another example of the confusion created when your average citizens are so woefully uneducated! Or was there never a contradiction at all?